Page 129 of My Fault

“I swear to you I won’t let anything happen to her. I’m going to find her.” I said this as calmly as I could.

She nodded as I turned around and walked to my room.

Where are you, Noah?

I paced back and forth while my thoughts assailed me. Not until I saw the miniature car Noah had given me for my birthday did it hit me. I grabbed it and looked at the note.

I’m sorry about your car, for real. Someday, I’ll buy you a new one. Happy birthday. Noah.

Buy me a new one… Technically, the car was still mine. It was registered in my name; I still had the title.

When that hit me, I couldn’t believe it. I turned and ran down to my father’s office. He was in his chair talking to the police and his security chief, Steve.

I couldn’t help feeling excited. If I was right, we were going to be able to find out where Noah was.

“Dad,” I said as I went in. He and Steve turned to me. They looked tired after a sleepless night, but both where alert and tense, ready for whatever had to happen.

“What is it?” my father said.

“I think I know how we can find her,” I said, praying I wasn’t wrong. “Around a month and a half ago, I lost my car in a bet. It’s a black Ferrari. I bought it two years ago.”

My father grimaced.

“Nicholas, I don’t have time for your bullshit right now,” he replied, but I ignored him.

“Ronnie took the car,” I continued, looking now at Steve. “The car’s got a tracking chip the insurance company installed when I bought it. If we can find the car…”

It was silent for a few seconds.

“Then we find Noah,” Steve said, finishing my sentence.

47

Noah

My entire body hurt after not being able to move for so many hours. I’d nodded off a few times, but never for more than a few minutes. I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew I needed to get out. The incessant pounding of the music in the background was exhausting me, not to mention that claustrophobic room with barely any light.

When light started shining through the window, I started to realize maybe no one would find me. And that made me cry again. Fear flooded my body.

Ronnie was back. He was at the foot of the bed. He’d been tormenting me by turning off the red light outside the room. He’d left me in the dark for long minutes that were the most terrifying of my life, knowing he was there with me in the blackness and could do whatever he wanted with me and I couldn’t defend myself, couldn’t run. I heard the echo of his giggles in my head as I wept and begged for him to turn on the light.

When he left, I tried to calm down for a long time. The music outside had died down, and all I could her now was my own breathing. Then a noise came from upstairs. It sounded like acrowd of people was stomping overhead. People outside shouted, and I heard gunfire and more voices. My heart skipped a beat, and I went stiff. My father appeared in the doorway, sweating, with a terrifying look on his face.

He hurried over and freed me from the chain. Then I saw something that made me jerk away. He pressed the barrel of his pistol painfully into my ribs and told me as I froze:

“Don’t you dare move a muscle.”

“Please,” I begged between sobs. That man was capable of anything.

“Shut up!” he commanded, pushing me toward the door and down a long hallway. I couldn’t see, I was scared, and I struggled just to put one foot in front of the other. I was defenseless and had no idea what to do.

He went on pushing me until we reached another door. I could tell there were people around, but I didn’t know how far away. When I heard someone shoutPolice!,my hope was reborn. Thank God, they’d found me!

The light scorched my eyes as my father pushed me outside and into an abandoned parking lot. What he didn’t expect was that there would be twenty or more cops stationed there with their weapons pointed straight at us. My father pulled me into him and brought the pistol up to my temple.

“Drop the gun!” someone shouted into a megaphone. Tears rolled down my face, and my eyes roved the scene, trying to find the person who could make all this make sense.

“If they get me, I’m taking you with me, little girl,” my father whispered in my ear.